Medical Residents Qualify for the Student FICA Exception

Deborah Helton

A few of our physician clients have received large refunds of their student FICA taxes paid while a medical resident.

Medical residents of hospitals and universities that were paid wages from 2002 – April 1, 2005 may be eligible for a refund of the FICA tax paid on their wages during the time of residency under the student FICA exception. If you were a medical resident during this time period you should contact your former employer (hospital or university) to see if it filed a FICA refund claim. If it did file a claim, you can register for your portion of the refund with the employer; the resident won’t hear directly from IRS.

This is a very specific window for the refund and action must have been taken by the hospital or university to claim the funds, but worth the inquiry. Unfortunately, the IRS has since changed the rules to state that medical residents working no longer qualify for this exclusion. Current medical students will not qualify for the exclusion.